Women-led software engineering company keeps community involvement at forefront

Cassie Monaco, co-founder of Sókn Engineering says Sókn is pronounced so-kin and is a Norse name meaning “go to battle.” She said everything about the company has a Nordic theme because men and women worked together in Viking culture.

Along with her co-founder, Stacy Lawrence, the two began the business two years ago and have been working from home until recently when they opened the doors of their new location in Whitefish along Highway 93 South.

Both of the co-founder’s husbands also work with them in the business which is involved with the fast world of day trading commodities, in this case, the trading of crude light oil, a resource whose value shifts radically and quickly each day.

For years, Lawrence’s husband had been working on developing mathematical algorithms for the trading of crude light oil. While they found his math had a high accuracy rate, he was not able to perform the calculations quickly enough to keep up with the market's movement.

In order to speed up the process, Sókn Engineering is working on software that is programmed to do the math. They call the math polymorphic differential sequencing and they’ve titled the software, the Hyper Fund Engine.

“We are a unique software analytics company in that, as far as we know, we are the only company that uses pure math for our predictions and it is math that we developed over 10 years,” she said.

Their goal is to be able to use the math to anticipate the direction of the crude light oil market and make trades that result in a “tremendous amount of money,” according to Monaco.

“Our math is pure, it’s accurate, it’s consistent and lo and behold, we’re going to make a lot of money,” Monaco said. “Part of what we earn will go to fostering innovation and creating other opportunities for women in STEM.”

Monaco said less than 3% of venture capital funds were directed to women-led companies in 2019 but women-owned start-up companies generated a much higher return on investment than companies founded by men. She said women are a good bet.

Sókn Engineering has taken one step toward its goal of supporting women in the sciences and women entrepreneurs.

“This year we provided four scholarships to four young women at Whitefish High School who are continuing their education in STEM,” said Monaco. “Every single one of (the applicants) were so deserving. Such bright and engaging and smart, ambitious women.”

Monaco said they are also involved with Code Girls United, a nonprofit in Kalispell whose mission is to provide hands-on experience in technology and business, according to their website.

“It’s important that (people realize) the challenge that women have as entrepreneurs, as innovators and in finding funding and having people believe in them,” Monaco said. “We want to help women achieve their endeavors.”

In the future, Monaco said they want to support the community’s youth in a number of ways. Sókn Engineering plans on expanding its scholarship program to schools throughout the valley. They also sponsored the Glacier Twins baseball program and plan to sponsor the new Whitefish High School baseball team.

Sókn Engineering's motto is "Know Tomorrow… Today" because Monaco says their math allows them to anticipate the price movement of crude light oil. Lawrence and Monaco added that they have another motto, too.

"It is never the wrong time to do what is right," Monaco said. “It is a testament to our commitment to giving back to our community even as a starving start-up.”